Qantia
Qantia is a nation in the continent of Pertusia. It borders Pangor to the south and east; it also borders the Lessington Sea and the Braccal Sea. The current emir of Qantia is Imram II Qata. Early history The Qantial people originally existed as a group of small fishing tribes in northwest Pertusia and the Barnacle Islands. Some Qantials formed early city-states, but those were mostly eradicated by the growth of the Khaganate of Xen; this forced the Qantial people to subside either on the Barnacle Islands or as Xeni subjects. Birth of a Qantial state Inspired by the Jyu-Tokata movement, the Qantials began agitating for statehood in the fifth century BT. This movement eventually coalesced around Nasser Qaspada, who led a series of campaigns to establish a beachhead on mainland Pertusia. These proved to be moderately successful, and so in 421, Nasser was crowned as the Emir of Qantia. Nasser's reign would be a peaceful one, centered on establishing and growing the port city of Afadona; however, his successors would be more aggressive. His immediate successor, Akram I (r. 399–372), was the most interested in Qantial expansion; he pushed against both Tocata and Karangga, and his naval explorations led him to settle Quasro and to initiate relations with the nomads of the Lessington Archipelago. Akram II (r. 372–356) was more diplomatic than his predecessor, and so after being courted by both Tocata and Karangga, he entered an alliance with the Tocatars. This alliance then drew Qantia into the 350 Karanggi Alliance War; however, Qantia was slow to take action on behalf of Tocata, and then fought poorly and ended up losing a significant portion of its land. This war had detrimental effects on the popular view of the Qaspada monarchy, so after Nasser II died in 328 BT, a military-backed coup installed Shihab Trouqan on the Qantial throne. Trouqan era Shihab's reign was almost immediately used as a catalyst for a Quasric uprising; however, Quasric leader Wasim Fatar was a skilled negotiator, and by 319 Quasro was established as an independent nation with whom Qantia was aligned. Tocata, meanwhile, was interested in maintaining their existing relationship with Qantia; thus, when Takhiko II launched his final invasion of Karangga, he invited Qantial cooperation and granted some of the Karanggi land to Qantia. By this time, Qantia's only land neighbor was Tocata, which was then at its peak, so land expansion was seen as impossible. Thus, Qantia stagnated for some time before rededicating itself to naval expansion. Shihab II (r. 279–253) launched an abortive invasion of the Lessington Archipelago; however, the main consequence of this war was the introduction of ibex-horn longbows to the Robarials. The main direction that Qantia projected its influence, however, was toward Quasro; fighting for cultural dominance of the island, Qantia came into conflict with Ferix. This ultimately led to the Ferix-Qantia War breaking out in 213, another ultimately small-scale war. Although the Trouqan era was a largely peaceful one, at least on mainland Qantia, the Trouqan monarchs were eventually criticized for their perceived inactivity. Especially as Tocata struggled with infighting, there became an increasing movement in Qantia to stage a full invasion of Tocata; however, the emirs were adamant that betraying their historic ally was foolish. Upon the ascension of Akram V (r. 138–131), the tensions reached their height, with several nobles threatening secession unless war was declared on Tocata; Akram's refusal to do so led to the Qantial Civil War, which deposed Akram in favor of Ghassan Sagaram. Sagaram era Ghassan Sagaram, now crowned as Emir Ghassan I, was quick to satisfy his supporters; at the beginning of his reign, he focused on enlarging the army, and officially launched an invasion of Tocata in 128. He also sent several bowmakers to the Lessingtonians, along with further shipments of horn longbows, as a gesture of goodwill; mastery of these bows would allow the Lessingtonians to establish the state of Robaria in eastern Alarea. Qantia gained significant land on the Pertusian landmass during the end of the second century, but this brought it into contact with the fledgling nation of Pangor; the two nations were the major beneficiaries of the Tocatar collapse, and they found themselves frequently skirmishing throughout the first century BT. This fighting reached its peak with the North Pertusian War (40–34 BT), which even motivated Emir Ghassan III to call on Robarial aid. Due to its warring, Qantia was reticent to provide soldiers to Quasro— this served to alienate the Quasric populace, and led to the issuance of an embargo against Qantia. Although this was an economically weak period in Qantia's history, the absence of a strong Tocatar state allowed the nation to reach its greatest geographic extent. Thus, many nobles came to rule increasingly much land and to hold increasingly much influence. During the lengthy reign of Shihab IV, these tensions gradually came to a head as it became apparent that several major nawabs were more powerful than the emir; this ultimately erupted into the War of the Qantial Nobles from 36 to 42 DR, a war that ultimately deposed the Sagarams and installed Nasser Dasafa on the throne. Decline Although Nasser's reign, as Emir Nasser VI, was still characterized by restiveness in the nobility, Quasro lifted its embargo in 42, to honor Nasser for ousting the Sagarams. The financial benefits of this resumed trade helped the populace warm to the Dasafa family, however, and Qantia thrived until the reconstruction of Tocata. Emir Shihab VI (r. 78–92) noticed the early nationalist efforts of Hideshi Yigin, but did not take them seriously, and so he only sent a token force to combat Yigin's first land seizures. This led, however, to Qantia being soundly defeated, and the second half of Shihab's reign was dominated by an unsuccessful scramble to maintain Qantia's borders. Shihab's successor, Hakim I, proved to be a more capable leader, but he was able only to curb Tocatar expansion, not to reclaim what had already been lost. Again Qantia was reduced to something of a rump state in the northernmost reaches of Pertusia; Tocata made further assaults against it, but Qantia's ships and cannons allowed it to resist total annihilation. This remained as the state of affairs for decades, even after the childless Nasser VIII died in 228; however, a council of generals appointed the militaristic Hakim Forfola to the emirate. Rebuilding and recent history Hakim Forfola, as Emir Hakim II, enlarged the Qantial military with conscription and modernization measures; however, he was unable to launch any successful offensives before he died in 240. The reconstruction of Xen in 245 posed an opportunity for his successor Murtaza IV, however, and under Murtaza's reign there were many wars between Qantia and Xen. These rarely had long-lasting effects, but as the Xeni nationalistic fervor waned in subsequent decades, Qantia began increasing its territory. The 399 rebirth of Pangor was a major complicating factor; although the initial expansions by Taixiang I mostly took place against Tocata, the Qantial rulership was concerned about how it too might be affected. Akram IX (r. 392–414) adopted a diplomatic approach toward the Pangoris, but his successor Murtaza VI instead attempted to declare war against them and force Pangor back. This backfired, as Qantia ended up losing both territory and reputation, and after Murtaza VI's death in 421 the Forfola dynasty was ousted entirely. In the mid-fifth century, the creation of a Tocatar republic led the Qantial citizenry to agitate for more representation; Emir Midhat II (r. 435–456) responded to this by converting beys into elected officials, which satisfied large swaths of the peasantry and nobles alike. Qantia would next see increased land expansion under the reign of Murtaza VII; Murtaza expanded southward against Pangor and Tocata, helping to extend his coastline. This also offered the opportunity to modernize the Qantial navy, which had been neglected as ground warfare rose in prominence. This navy did also arouse concern from the Golden Sextet, especially as Qantia aligned itself with Sextet-opposed Quasro; however, the conflict deflated after the expulsion of Luther Grouss from the Sextet distracted Alarean leaders. Imram Qata— who acceded after Hakim IV proved to outlive his heir— would also improve relations with the Golden Quintet, helping to further stabilize Qantia's situation. Category:Countries Category:Pertusian Countries Category:Active Countries